Fishing from small boats has many advantages, not least of which are the ability to carry a group of people with more equipment than operating on foot and the ability to troll the fishing lines. Boat operators often install holders or hooks along the gunwales to receive a fishing rod or to hang boxes holding gear, bait or other items. Generally these holders require drilling into the boat's gunwale or rail structure to fasten in place, then sealing the fastener penetrations. Once mounted they cannot be moved, and so are not very flexible for accommodating variable numbers of people or differing equipment for different types of fishing or other outings.
A better solution is to provide a longitudinal rail mounted to a gunwale, railing or wall, and then mounting equipment to the rail, to give more flexibility. Mounting holders on rails is known, but existing devices still have many drawbacks. They are either clip on systems which cannot support significant torque, or they are complex to mount, and heavy. Excessive weight along the gunwales of a small boat can be very destabilizing and dangerous. Fishing rod holders are subjected to significant torque during trolling or from large sport fish. Tackle box holders are torqued by the weight of the gear which is amplified by the vertical movement of the boat through rough water. Additionally, existing mounting systems are generally single purpose, designed for holding fishing rods, or designed for holding tackle, or designed for holding personal items such as cups, but not interchangeable. Mounted equipment holders are also notoriously difficult to maintain and clean. Salt and dirt will rapidly seize up complicated mounting systems, and corrosion renders them unsightly. Of course, an additional concern is aesthetic. Boaters and fishermen are a prideful and boasting lot, so any solution should provide a clean and attractive look with an unobtrusive profile.
Fixed holders require mounting many extras around the boat to provide flexibility, by attempting to predict the most useful spots for any number of people and activities—especially so for charter boats which must cope with a variety of scenarios in numbers, skill levels, and types of equipment. Extra mounts means more penetrations in the boat structure, more maintenance, more opportunities for snagging other equipment or passengers, and more potential for injuries. Allowing a charter boat operator to easily reconfigure the layout on the fly provides for a more pleasurable customer experience, and allows the crew to ensure safe operating conditions at all times.
Additional safety and convenience considerations come into play as well. A boat operator may need to locate people at selected positions around the boat to prevent unbalanced conditions, requiring the ability to easily and securely reconfigure the type and location of fishing rod holders, utility hooks, and convenience items such as cup holders or cell phone holders. When sport fishing it may be necessary to move a rod or other equipment to a different location entirely after a large fish is hooked during the fight to reel it in.
Additionally, as boats and other vehicles come in all shapes and sizes, a mounting rail system should be mountable along either the top of surface of the gunwale or railing or along the side, or along a deck or vertical wall, and still accommodate the same wide range of equipment, so that a single system can be adapted to any number of boat configurations.
Thus, there is a need for a universal rail mounting system that is: (i) clip-on; (ii) strong; (iii) provides flexibility in mounting locations; (iv) can receive a variety of holders and devices; (v) is simple and easy to maintain and clean; (vi) provides for rapid repositioning; (vii) provides a clean, aesthetically pleasing look; (viii) can be mounted along the top or the side of a gunwale; (ix) can accommodate some curvature in arrangement; (X) adaptable to a variety of connector styles.